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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22566499">Hope</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyBunni/pseuds/MyBunni'>MyBunni</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mass Effect Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 08:40:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,582</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22566499</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyBunni/pseuds/MyBunni</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Miranda sits still in her chair, unable to get her body to move. Her mind refuses to move beyond the task assigned to her, instead preferring to spin horrendous thoughts, over and over again. Your breaking apart a family. A Good family, a family vastly different from yours. She doesn’t deserve this. However despite all the objections her mind made, she knew she had to do it. She rationalized that she wasn’t really breaking up a family, after all Hope thought her mother was dead, thus their family was already broken. And you can’t break a broken family, right?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian, Female Shepard/Thomas Male OC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Chapter 1</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Tapping her fingers gently against the cool metal desk, she stared at the computer in front of her. It’s been another long day, a long day in a year of long days. She had almost lost her, Shepard, Hero of the Citadel...Mother, again. Due to yet another mistake from the idiot. Sucking in a long breath, she savored the feeling of blowing it out, allowing the sigh to wash over. Despite it all, today had ended on a positive note. She had finally finished the reconstruction of her insides, allowing her to move on to reconstruct her skin and muscles. Before she could think further on to what would be done, a ping from the computer alerted her that her waiting was over. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>A secure connection has been established. Would you like to proceed?</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Skimming quickly over the words she’s read at least a hundred or so times, she pushed the button for </span>
  <b>
    <em>Yes</em>
  </b>
  <span>. The holoscreen turned black and then an image of a man appeared, the orange glow from the cigarette provides the only light. She didn’t need the light, she’s seen his face before, yet that never stopped him from appearing with only a cigarette to light his face. Taking a long drag, he blows out the smoke in a practiced motion. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Miranda.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Illusive Man.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Tapping his cigarette somewhere offscreen he speaks without looking at her. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How’s my heroine doing?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“She’s fine, there was a little… hiccup. However, we have finally managed to complete phase one of the project. We’ll be moving on to phase two.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Good. There is one thing I want you to do before you move to phase two.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cocking a brow, Miranda waited for him to continue. It was unusual for the Illusive Man to request anything, no not unusual, that was an understatement. He has never requested anything from the Lazarus Project. Ever since that day one year ago, he had given her the instruction to bring Shepard back to life and nothing else. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“As you know, our heroine is not a... one person deal.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A slight chill runs over her as her mind makes the connection. There was only one other person he could be talking about, and him bringing it up did not bring good news. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You're talking about Hope.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Taking another drag from his cigarette, he pauses to blow out the smoke before he continues. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, her.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The chill becomes a harsh cold that bites at her, it’s a familiar feeling, one that's saved her life many times, a warning. One she knows better than to ignore, but does so anyway. She needs to know why he would bring up Hope. “Our research indicates that she will be a… hindrance to our cause. I want you to erase Shepard’s memory of her.” Tapping his ashes into an unseen object, he looks up and stares into her eyes.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I understand you have a strong </span>
  <em>
    <span>opinion</span>
  </em>
  <span> on family, however, I shouldn’t have to tell you of humanity's need for our heroine, of the sacrifices we all have to make.” The harsh cold curls its way inward and freezes her bones, it numbs her. And so she sits there dumbily, unable to reply. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Illusive Man must have taken her silence as acceptance and gives her the barest of smiles, ending their conversation with a, “Excellent, I look forward to your next report.” He moved to press something and the holo screen went black with white words that blared angrily at her. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>Connection has been severed. </em>
  </b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Miranda sits still in her chair, unable to get her body to move. Her mind refuses to move beyond the task assigned to her, instead preferring to spin horrendous thoughts, over and over again. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Your breaking apart a family. A Good family, a family vastly different from yours. She doesn’t deserve this. </span>
  </em>
  <span>However despite all the objections her mind made, she knew she had to do it. She rationalized that she wasn’t really breaking up a family, after all Hope thought her mother was dead, thus their family was already broken. And you can’t break a broken family, right?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Standing up, she walks over to the table that held Shepard. Or at least what’s left of Shepard. Standing over the table, Miranda stares at the damage Shepard created by dying. The “Woman” on the table looked like butchered meat left to rot for a week. Dull black metal melded together with charred skin, the remnants of her N7 armour. Miranda continues to look on with a stoic face, her eyes trace the thick and thin tubes, the multiple lifelines that keep Shepard “Alive”. She gently traces one wire with her index finger, following it until it reaches the charred skin of her head. Releasing her hand, she makes her final decision, she is going to get this done quickly. Grabbing a nanotech from a nearby table she connects it to her omnitool and alters it so that it will affect memory. She then creates the smallest cut along Shepard’s scalp, providing her with enough space to place the nanotech on top of Shepard’s </span>
  <span>medial temporal lobe. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sighing softly she stitches the opening closed, and places some medigel on top of it. Her finger traces the stitch gently and she murmurs sadly, “I’m sorry. Hopefully, you can dream one last good dream.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Brushing away the hair that’s fallen in front of her face, Miranda straightens and walks to the exit, all the while thinking, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Just another long day. A long day in a year of long days.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Chapter 2</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she awakens, it’s with little awareness of where she is. Turning her head, she takes in her surroundings, white walls, white beds, a desk. She pauses at the desk, something feels off about it. Like it shouldn’t be empty, like someone should be sitting there, someone like Ch…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that’s when it hits her. She’s seen all this before! Glancing quickly around the room, she confirms what she already knows, the white walls, the white beds, the ugly ceiling light! “It’s the medibay.” Her voice startles her even as it leaves her mouth, she jumps off the bed she sat on and walks around in a little circle. </span>
  <em>
    <span>How can this be? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Stopping in front of the desk, she gently traces the metallic edge, and whispers, “But, I saw the Normandy blow up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snatching her hand back, she backs away slowly, all the while mumbling, “But, I saw it burn. I...I..die..” She can’t complete the next sentence, all she knows is that she wants to run. And that’s what she does.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Past the dining room, down the stairs, and past the eerily empty CIC, she runs to the bridge. She doesn’t know why but she knows she must go to the bridge, there is where she’ll understand. She slows when she nears the two familiar black chairs. And then she stops right behind Joker’s chair. Her breath comes in short puffs, she knows it’s more out of fear then the running and so she takes one deep breath to calm herself. When she is, well, as calm as she can get, she raises a hesitant hand to the top of the chair, slowly turning it around her voice leaves her in a whisper, “Thomas?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She watches numbly as he smiles, the same kind smile that caused his cheeks to rise and create little wrinkles along his eyes. The one he used when he was...alive. Her knees feel weak, her legs boneless, but she forces herself to stand, she forces herself to whisper, “It can’t be you.” She watches helplessly as he shakes his head, the smile on his face never wavering.    </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Took you long enough Shepard.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her knees feel weak as a wave of relief washes over her. Her legs turn to jelly and she falls to the floor with a sigh. Without looking up from the floor she asks, “I don’t understand Tom. I thought I…” She bites the inside of her cheek, unable to say the final word. So she decides to skip it, “The Normandy, I thought it burned! But, it’s intact… and where is everybody?!” Looking up at her friend, she begs, “Please, Thomas, what’s going on?” The smile on his face dies, and is replaced with a sigh. Resting his arms on his legs, he leans forward so that his face is level with hers.  His blue eyes staring intently, leaving her unable to look away. Holding her breath she waits for his response. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You did die.” She was about to protest, to prove that she was alive, that she could feel, breath, but he stopped her by continuing. “And now you are alive. As for Normandy and the crew.” He gives a small shrug, “That’s not what I’m here for.” He brushes a finger along her jawline and waits for a reply. Swallowing past the newly formed lump in her throat she manages to get out a small, “What </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> you here for?” Pausing his ministrations before gently cupping her chin he silently commanded that she not look away. Giving her a sad smile he replies softly, “I’m  here, to make you forget.” The lights behind her begin to turn off and she tries to turn her head, but Thomas refuses to let her go, his grip tightened against her chin as he forces her to look at him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But, first you must remember.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The lights go off where she is, and the darkness once again swallows her. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Starting in the next chapter we will finally be getting to see what Garrus has been up to and how Shepard's child has been XD I'm excited! And again thank you for reading!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey there! Thanks for reading my work, I hope you enjoyed it! I have posted a story with the same plot before so if it seems familiar that's because it is. In any case I decided to re-post this and follow through with my work so I hope you bear with me. </p>
<p>See you next week!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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